MAM 2 in 1 Breast Pump – Review

June 29, 2018

MAM 2 in 1 Breast Pump – Convenience and power of an electric pump with the freedom and flexibility of a manual pump.

Returning to work after having baby brings up all sorts of questions. Who is going to look after your baby when you are not there? Will you be able to change your hours to suit your new life? Will you still be able to breastfeed? All of these questions (and more) are ones that I’ve had. Luckily, when I returned to work after having Dexter, I was able to move to a different department that enabled me to work in the evening. This meant that we didn’t need to source childcare or pay someone else to have our child. I would have Dexter through the day while Liam was at work and then Liam would have him in the evening when I was at work. It was a win-win. The only thing I worried about was breastfeeding and eventually after about a month of being at work our BF journey ended.

Fast forward 4 and a half years and I’m in the same situation for the 3rd time.
With Paisley, I managed to carry on breastfeeding for 21 months. Now here I am, Bridget has just turned one, I returned to work in March and we are still breastfeeding.

One thing that makes it easier is having a breast pump. I have used a few different pumps in the past and have recently had the pleasure of testing out the MAM 2 in 1 Breast Pump that was released earlier this year. I was sent this product for the purposes of this review. Thoughts, opinions and pictures are my own unless stated. Also, the link(s) I have included below are affiliate links, which means, if you were to purchase through them, I could earn a little bit of commission. Doing this costs you absolutely nothing more than what you would have already paid – it just helps keep my blog running, pays for the odd tea bag and lets me turn a light on occasionally… and that’s nice, right?

Unboxing the MAM 2 in 1 Breast Pump.

Cost & what’s in the box

At the time of writing this review, the MAM 2 in 1 Breast Pump is retailing at around the £130 mark. Other electric breast pumps seem to retail between £70+ for basic models all the way up to £180 for a double electric pump, so considering you are essentially getting two pumps here, I’d say the price is to be expected.

In the box, you get a rechargeable motor unit, 2 MAM self-sterilising, anti-colic bottle, 2 milk storage tubs, all of the funnel parts along with 2 additional valve membranes, the power adapter/charger, tubing for when in electric mode and the handle for when in manual mode.

On first impressions, I was very impressed with the quality of it all. We’ve used MAM bottles before and have found them the best in our experience of getting breastfed babies to take a bottle so having 2 already in with the pump was a great start.

MAM 2 in 1 Breast Pump – First impressions

The electric unit is a good looking piece of kit. I have originally used a Medela pump and I’ve always thought the yellow colour of it looks like something from the home of the worlds heaviest smoker. The MAM unit is a lovely clean white with a black display, with a green ring around the side that matches parts of the bottles and the display lights. It has 4 buttons on the top which are light press buttons and an on-off switch on the bottom so that it isn’t accidentally turned on in your bag and wasting your battery

The unit is already charged so you can set it up and start using it straight away. Although it does come with very clear instructions inside the box, I found it simple to work out what goes where and put to use. Had I struggled, the picture on the back of the box is a very simple to follow ‘quick guide’

The back of the box gives very clear visuals of each setup and switching between.

Using the Electric Pump.

To use the electric pump, you simply attach the pieces as shown in the diagram on the box. There are 9 different settings for both the stimulation mode and the expression mode. One thing I really liked is that you can decide when to change from each mode. Rather than being on a timer and then it automatically switching.

The pump is comfortable to use and although it does make some noise, it’s not as loud as pumps I’ve tried in the past.

The display on the motor unit is very clear and easy to understand. At the top, it highlights when you are in either stimulation or expression mode. It shows what setting level you are at out of the 9 available as well as showing you the battery level and the time you have been using it for. The buttons aren’t really buttons as such that you press, more like a touch screen so are lovely to use.

The pump will time out after 30 minutes and switch itself off. This gives you long enough to do the 15 minutes of pumping on each breast that is recommended by healthcare professionals. However, you can just press the power button to turn it back on and continue if you weren’t quite finished.

Ready for a pumping session with the electric pump

Using the Manual Pump.

Personally, I’ve never really had much success with manual pumps. And I’m not claiming that this one is magic but I did manage to express some when using it. I know people that get on very well with manual pumps but with for me personally, I have to be really engorged and in need of a bit of relief or I have to be already feeding which has then sparked the let-down. If you get on well with manual pumps then this would be great.

That said, I’m going away to a wedding soon and will be away for 2 nights so I imagine that the manual pump will be perfect to take with us to pump and dump.

Like the electric version, it is very easy to assemble and comfortable to use… that is until your hand starts aching.

Anything Else?

At first, I was a bit perplexed that the milk storage cups didn’t fit onto the pump. I mean, If I’m pumping to store, then it would surely make sense to pump into the storage cup right?? But then I discovered a genius little trick or ‘easter egg’ if you like…

If you take off the base of the bottle and the lid of the storage cup, you can then screw the two together and attach the bottle part to the pump as normal.

How to convert the milk storage cup to fit the MAM 2 in 1 Breast Pump

Having the option of using the pump while plugged into the mains and then to take it along with you is brilliant. It’s one less part to pack and you don’t have to be tied to a wall while pumping. This makes it ideal to take away with you or even to take to work or pump in your car if you’re out and about. Not only that, depending on the level of power you have it set on, the battery can last up to 5 hours! That’s a lot of pumping!

Another thing I’ve really loved about the MAM bottles is the self-sterilising function. We’ve been using these bottles for a while with Paisley and never even realised until recently that they had this feature! Once you have washed the bottles as normal, you assemble by putting the white membrane in the base part, then add the teat with screw ring then the bottle body and finally the protective cap. fill the base with 20ml of water (use the cap to measure) and then microwave to steam the parts.

All of the parts of this pump are easy to clean. We’ve had no discolouring or dulling of any parts in the month that I’ve been using it. The clever ways it all fits together and works including the little tricks I’ve just mentioned, really do take this from an average pump to something I think is actually really clever. Not to mention the breathable bottoms of the bottle that reduce colic by allowing air flow without leaking.

Had the MAM 2 in 1 Breast Pump been around at the start of my breastfeeding journey 5 years ago, I would certainly have purchased it. I’m really glad I had the opportunity to test this out. I think it’s time to part with my old pump now as this one is a keeper.

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2 Comments

It looks like MAM have thought of everything on this one! Interesting that you can use it both as electric and manual. We’ve used the MAM bottles since M was tiny and love that they self-sterilise in the microwave. Genius idea!

Hello, l'm Leslie. I'm in my 30's, I live in Peterborough with my husband Liam and together we have 3 kids - a 5 year old, a toddler and a baby.
With this blog, I help parents teach their children valuable life skills so that they encourage independence and build confident, happy people.
I like cups of tea and sandwiches and I have a tattoo of a cabbage on my wrist.
I spend my days mostly running around after the aforementioned kids and picking up food from the floor while trying to find fun things for them to do.
We (read: they) like to get messy and explore (read: run off) and not eat the dinners I cook while I like to write about helping your child through school, and how to teach them life skills, as well writing product reviews and development updates. I'm always on the look out for more 'Mummy friends' so that I might get a conversation that is more than one way or that isn't about Bing, boogers or wiping bums.
Grab a cuppa and settle in. Mines milk & 2 if you're making!